Cu2Se nanoparticles in sol–gel silica glasses

The silica sol–gel glasses embedded with copper selenide nanoparticles were fabricated. The samples were characterized with transmission electron microscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and were compared with data for analogous sol–gel silica films with the nanoparticles. The composition of nanoparticles corresponds to the Cu2Se stoichiometry and the size enters the range of tens of nanometers. This optical material exhibits the features in VIS/IR absorption associated with both the weak quantum confinement and a partial surface oxidation.